Book Review: DV Filmmaking by Ian Aronson
Ian David Aronson was an Associate Professor at Ramapo College in New Jersey – my Alma Mata. As I was looking for books on digital filmmaking I spotted this and I bought it. I’ve read 5 other books and this was my favorite for a number of reasons. The quality of the printing is outstanding. And the material from start to finish is well written and many of the major points I learned about digital filmmaking at the New York Film Academy are explained beautifully in this book. I was surprised we did not have a text book for Evening Digital Video at NYFA… and this became my textbook. I have found in life that if I read 3 to 5 books on a subject, I might know more than the so called “experts”. Usually “the experts” have a PhD and they ultimately reform life to look like their pet theories. Aronson is a straight shooter and he gives real life examples of everything he teaches in the book. Ian Aronson is a genuine expert with lots of experience and no illusions that get in the way of the content. I recommend “DV Filmmaking” to anyone considering taking or teaching a class in digital filmmaking.
Here is a link to the Google Books version of DV filmmaking: from start to finish
By Ian David Aronson
The 180 Degree Rule of Film Making
To maintain continuity, draw a line between 2 actors and keep the camera on one side of that line. Only break the line when there is a very compelling reason to. This is one of the basic principals of filmmaking and it’s easily demonstrated during a football game. If Team A is on the left side of the screen and they are trying to score on the right side of the screen, switching to a shot where Team A is rushing into the end zone on the left side of the screen would confuse viewers. The audience would thing Team A just scored on their own end zone! There is another great writeup on the Mark Kennedy’s Site site.
The Over the Shoulder Shot – OTS
This is a fairly common shot in film making where the camera is placed above the shoulder of an actor or actress to give the movie viewer a look at what the actor sees. It creates a first person viewpoint. OTS is used a lot during interviews to help create a point – counter point exchange. Remember to keep one actor on the left side of the screen and the other actor on the other side of the screen to keep the audience from getting confused.
